Publish on Amazon or Others?

[Thematterisclosed]

I'm interested in hearing the results other authors have had publishing on different platforms. I have read the threads below and had some helpful suggestions off people in the past for reputatable eBook publishers as well, so this is more of a promotion question than a how-to.

A little background - I have written several stories on Lit and liked it. I'm now editing my own novella (fantasy, plus elements of bdsm, lesbianism and erotic coupling) that I took out six months to write. It took a while so I'd like to put it out in a way that gets it noticed ;-)

Now, as an erotic writer I have done one private commission, a couple of short story kindle ebooks (test runs) and the free stuff here. I don't get the chance to crank out my own stuff as much as I would like as I do a lot of non-erotic commissions. So, although I am working on a side piece and have a plan for a sequel it could take months and interest could disappear down the memory hole by the time any follow up occurs. Since I am in this for the long haul I was wondering what my best strategy was?

1. Part of me feels I should just put it out free on LT as there is a sequel's worth of thread to follow up easly and I enjoy the world setting. Its not a chore, but I know it would be a while before I could link it to any self published other stuff (smash words or kindle). On the other hand it might start a fan base and I never charge more than £0.99 (Brit here).

2. Flog it to a publisher, with all the obsticales that has but less hassles for me regarding picture, editorials, plot holes etc.

3. Self publish route - no base plus unsure how you promote yourself on Amazon.

How did you guys solve this once you'd gotten a few stories under your belts?

 

[sr71plt]

I have publishers that release it on as many distributor lists as appropriate and as many platforms as they can--this means avoiding some of Amazon's restrictive programs. I also eventually post most of them to Literotica.

 

[Thematterisclosed]

Hi,

Yes, I have posted mine to LT after a while as well. Do your publishers let you retain the copy right to your stories then? If so, you have a link to their website? I'd love to check their submission rules.

 

[sr71plt]

Hi,

Yes, I have posted mine to LT after a while as well. Do your publishers let you retain the copy right to your stories then? If so, you have a link to their website? I'd love to check their submission rules.

Yes I have copyright on my works. One publisher is excessica.com (but the last I heard, it's not taking new authors). Neither is barbarianspy.com. Another one is Fido Publishing. You might try that one: http://www.fidopublishing.com/books/

 

[NaokoSmith]

Hi honey, welcome on board!


Many people try out stories on Literotica, where you can get good feedback, and then polish them up to publish in a saleable form. This also allows you to collect your sequels up and put them online quickly to cash in on any interest.

This is my blogpost about publishing here, on Amazon and on Smashwords:

http://feministeroticawriters.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/where-to-publish-your-hot-stuff.html

If you read around, you'll find that some people have reservations about Amazon. Smashwords is more highly thought of. Most who write and publish seriously will put work on Amazon Kindle, though, as it reaches much bigger audiences.

 

[Bramblethorn]

If you're going to put stories on Literotica, it doesn't hurt to put them on Smashwords as well. Some people will pay for an e-book even when they've already found it on Literotica for free; I started publishing on SW because I was getting feedback saying "I would buy this as an e-book", and at least some of them did.

 

[Thematterisclosed]

Huh, never thought of publishing here then following up on Smashwords. I have gotten pretty good at the short story format but I can tell there is room to grow with the novella that is going out. What the hell, any publisher worth their salt would probably rewrite half of any script sent in no matter how good you are.

Thanks a lot for your advice and contact information guys. I think I'll release here first then polish and submit to a publisher for a professional opinion. Smashwords can't hurt to read up on either, can't be any harder than Amazon.

 

[sr71plt]

Huh, never thought of publishing here then following up on Smashwords. I have gotten pretty good at the short story format but I can tell there is room to grow with the novella that is going out. What the hell, any publisher worth their salt would probably rewrite half of any script sent in no matter how good you are.

Thanks a lot for your advice and contact information guys. I think I'll release here first then polish and submit to a publisher for a professional opinion. Smashwords can't hurt to read up on either, can't be any harder than Amazon.

I think it's best to put it in the marketplace well ahead of offering it on Literotica (if for no other reason than when/if it gets swiped and published, you can show prior publishing and even if you can't get the stolen work taken down, you will have already had a profit-making shot with it).

Also, I don't think that e-publishers will do much rewriting. They will accept what you have if they think it requires on a light edit (if that) and reject anything that needs significant work.

 

[Thematterisclosed]

Actually what I was thinking of doing was rewriting the first chapter, as a short stand alone taster and putting it out on LeT and linking it to the novella on my kindle account/a publisher's store. Then wait until the sequel is done before publishing it again on LeT. No reason not to submit it to an online publisher but if I can show them a LeT rating it might help?

 

[sr71plt]

Actually what I was thinking of doing was rewriting the first chapter, as a short stand alone taster and putting it out on LeT and linking it to the novella on my kindle account/a publisher's store. Then wait until the sequel is done before publishing it again on LeT. No reason not to submit it to an online publisher but if I can show them a LeT rating it might help?

You can't link Lit. stories to URLs external to Lit.

You show a publisher a success rating on a free-read Web site and they'll stop talking to you. You've already valued the work at zero and expended a buyer base.